Mechanics of style

Mechanics of Style

Style:The rules or guidelines a publisher observes to ensure clear, consistent presentation in scholarly article

To avoid inconsistencies among journal articles or book chapters

Ex: Subtest, sub-test, and subtest

correct in APA style

Basic tools for APA style

in this chapter

Punctuation Spelling Capitalization Italics Abbreviations Numbers Metrication Statistics

Punctuation

Establishes the rhythm of a sentenceTells the reader where to pause, stop or take a detourDenotes a pause in thought

One space is needed after

Commas, colons, and semicolons; Periods that separate parts of a sentence citations; and Periods of the initials in personal names

Exception:

• No space after internal periods in abbreviations, including identity concealing labels, or colons in ratio

Spacing after Punctuation Mark

Use period with

• initials of names• abbreviations for United

States when it is used as an adjective(U.S. Navy)

• identity concealing for study participants(F.I.M)

• latin abbreviations• reference abbrevioations

Do not use periods with

• abbreviations of states names

• capital letter abbreviations and acronyms

• Abbreviations for routes of administrations

• Web address in text or in the reference list

• Metric and nonmetric abbreviations

Exception: in. for inch

Period

Comma

• Between elements in a series of three or more items.

incorrect:

in a study by Stacy, Newcomb and Bentler(1991)

• Use a comma

,• To make a nonrestrictive clause

• To separate two independent clauses joined by a conjunction.

• To set off the year in exact dates (April 15, 1991)

• To set off the year in parenthetical reference citations. (Wordsworth, 1798)

• To separate groups of three digits (1,000)

Comma

Do not use a comma

• Before a restrictive clause• Between two parts of a compound predicate

All subjects completed the first phase of experiment and returned the following week for phase 2.

,

• To separate parts of a measurement

3 min 40 s

Semicolon

Use a semicolon

• To separate two independent clauses.• To separate elements in a series that already contain commas.

The color order was red, yellow, blue; blue, yellow, red; or yellow, red, blue.

Colon

Use a colon

• Between a grammatically complete introductory clause and a final clause or phrase.

they have agreed on the outcome: informed participants

performed better than uninformed participants.

• In ratio and proportions. (the proportion was 1:8.)• In references between place of publication and publisher.

New York, NY: Wiley

Do not use a colon

• After an introduction that is not independent clause

Dash

• Use a dash to indicate only a sudden interruption in continuity of the sentence.

These two participants—one from the first group and one from the second—were tested separately.

OVERUSE

Quotation MarkUse double quotation mark

• To introduce a new word or phrase used as an ironic comment, as slang, or as an invented expression.

The “good-outcome” variable … the good-outcome variable

• To set off the title of an article in a periodical or book when title is mentioned in the text.

Riger’s (1992) article, “Epistemological Debates, Feminist Voices: Science, Social Values, and the Study of Women”

• To reproduce material from a test item to participants.

The first fill-in item was “could be expected to ______.”

Quotation MarkDo not use double quotation mark

• to identify the anchors of a scale. Instead, italicized them.

• to cite a letter, word, phase, or sentence as a linguistic example, instead, italicized the term

• to introduce a technical or key term. Instead, italicize the term

We ranked the items on a scale ranging from 1 (all of the time) to 5 (never).

He clarified the distinction between farther and further

The term zero-base budgeting appeared frequently in the speech.

• to hedge, Do not use any punctuation with each expression.

The teacher rewarded the students with tokens.“ ”

Double or Single Quotation Marks

• Single quotations within the double quotations

“Miele (1993) found that “the ‘placebo effect,’ which have been verified in previous studies, disappeared when [only the first group’s] behaviors were studied in this manner ” (p. 276)

Block quotations (any quotations of 40 or more words) Don’t use double quotations to enclose block quotations Use double quotations for the quotations within the block

quotations.

Use periods and commas within closing single or double quotations.

Parentheses

Use parentheses

to set off structurally independent elements.

The patterns were statistically significant. (see figure 5)

to set off a reference in text

to introduce an abbreviation

to set off letters that identify items in a series within a sentence or paragraph.

The subject areas included (a) synonyms associated with cultural interactions, (b) descriptors for ethnic group membership, and (c) psychological symptoms and outcomes associated with bicultural adaptation.

Parentheses to group mathematical expressions (k—1)/(g—2)

to enclose the citation or page number of a direct quotation

The author stated, "The effect disappeared within minutes" (Lopez, 1993, p.311), but she did not say which effect.

Lopez (1993) found that "the effect disappeared within minutes" (p. 311). But she did not say which effect.

to enclose numbers that identify displayed formulas and equations.

to enclose statistical values.

was statistically significant (p = .031)

Parentheses to enclose degrees of freedom.

t(75)= 2.19F(2, 116H3.71

Do not use parentheses

to enclose material within other parentheses.

back to back.

(e.g., defensive pessimism) (Norem & Cantor, 1986)

Brackets

Use brackets

to enclose the values that are the limits of a confidence interval

95% CIs [—7.2, 4.3], [9.2, 12.4], and [—1.2, -0.5]

to enclose material inserted in a quotation by some person other than the original writer.

(The results for the control group [n = 8] are also presented in Figure 2.)

Exception 1 : Do not use brackets if the material can be set off easily with commas without confounding meaning.

(as lmai, 1990, later concluded)not(as lmai [1990] later concluded)

Brackets

Exception 2: In mathematical material, the placement of brackets and parentheses is reversed; that is, parentheses appear within brackets.

Do not use brackets

to set off statistics that already include parentheses.

Correct:was statistically significant, F(l, 32) = 4.37, p = .045.Incorrect:was statistically significant (FR, 32] = 4.37, p = .045).Incorrect:was statistically significant EF(I, 32) = 4.37, p = .045].

Slash

Use a slash (also called a virgule, solidus, or shill)

to clarify a relationship in which a hyphenated compound is used.

the classification/similarity-judgment conditionhits/false-alarms comparison

to separate numerator from denominator. X/Y

to indicate per to separate units of measurement accompanied by a numerical value. 0.5 deg/s 7.4 mg/kg

to set off English phonemes.

to cite a republished work in text. Freud (1923/1 961)

SlashDo not use a slash

when a phrase would be clearer.

Each child handed the ball to her mother/guardian.

for simple comparisons. Use a hyphen or short dash (en dash) instead. test-retest reliability

nottest/retest reliability

more than once to express compound units. Use centered dots and parentheses as needed to prevent ambiguity.

nmol • hr-1 • mg-1notnmol/hr/mg

Spelling

Preferred Spelling

Spelling should conform to standard American English as exemplified in Merriam--Webster's Collegiate Dictionary(2005),

Spelling of psychological terms should conform to the APA Dictionary of Psychology (VandenBos, 2007)

If there is a choice for spelling , use the first spelling listed canceled cancelled

Use preferred spelling of some of more common Latin or Greek origin words. Singular Plural

appendix appendices cannula cannulasdatum dataphenomenon phenomena

Use only an apostrophe with the possessive of a plural name.

Singular PluralFreud's the Freuds'James's the Jameses'Watson's the Watsons'Skinner's the Skinners'

Exceptions: Use an apostrophe only with the singular form of names ending in unpronounced s (e.g., Descartes'). It is preferable to include of when referring to the plural form of names ending in unpronounced s (e.g., the home of the Descartes).

HyphenationTypes of compound words are

• Two separate words (open)• A hyphenated word (hyphenated)• One unbroken “solid” word (solid)

How to choose the correct type?

Use a dictionary (specially nonscientific words) APA follows Webster's Collegiate in most cases

What are permanent compound and temporary compound?

Established compounds in the dictionaries are permanent compoundsCompounds which are made up of two or more words that occur together, in particular paper, to express a thought are temporary compounds.